''Sharknado 5: Global Swarming'' (stylized on-screen as ''5harknado: Global Swarming'') is a 2017 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

disaster film A disaster film or disaster movie is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject and primary plot device. Such disasters may include natural disasters, accidents, offensive (military), military/terrorism, terrorist att ...

and the fifth installment in the ''Sharknado'' film series, following ''

Sharknado ''Sharknado'' is a 2013 American made-for-television science fiction comedy disaster film directed by Anthony C. Ferrante. It tells about a waterspout that lifts sharks out of the ocean and deposits them in Los Angeles. It is the first install ...

'', '' Sharknado 2: The Second One'', '' Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!'', and '' Sharknado: The 4th Awakens''. The film was directed by

Anthony C. Ferrante Anthony C. Ferrante is an American film director, producer, and writer, known for directing the ''Sharknado'' series, the 2017 thriller ''Forgotten Evil'' and the 2005 ghost story '' Boo'', which was his feature film writing and directing debut ...

, with

Ian Ziering Ian Andrew Ziering (; born March 30, 1964) is an American actor best known for his role as Steve Sanders on the television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', which he played from 1990 to 2000. He is also the voice of Vinnie on ''Biker Mice from ...

Tara Reid Tara Donna Reid (; born November 8, 1975) is an American actress and model. Her film roles established her status as a sex symbol in the late 1990s through the early 2000s. In film, Reid is best known for her lead ensemble role as Vicky Lathum ...

and

Cassie Scerbo Cassandra Lynn Scerbo is an American actress, singer and dancer. She was one of the members of the all-girl pop band Slumber Party Girls in the CBS children's music variety series ''Dance Revolution''. In acting, she starred as Brooke in the f ...

reprising their roles from the previous installments, along with newcomer

Dolph Lundgren Hans "Dolph" Lundgren (, ; born 3 November 1957) is a Swedish actor, filmmaker, and martial artist. Lundgren made his acting debut in 1985 with a cameo in the List of James Bond films, James Bond film ''A View to a Kill''. Also that year, he h ...

and the usual dozens of

cameo roles A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking one ...

by various celebrities. In the film, lead characters Fin and April travel around the world instantaneously by going through portals at the top of tornadoes in order to save their son Gil, who has been swept up in a sharknado. They visit several places like

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, and

Giza Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah, Gizeh, Geeza, Jiza''; , , ' ) is the third-largest city in Egypt by area after Cairo and Alexandria; and fourth-largest city in Africa by population after Kinshasa, Lagos, and Cairo. It is the capital of ...

. The sixth and final film, '' The Last Sharknado: It's About Time'', was released on August 19, 2018.

Plot

Following the events of the previous film, Fin and April travel to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

with their young son Gil to attend a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

meeting regarding the escalating sharknado threat. Meanwhile, Nova and her assistants investigate a temple hidden beneath

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric Megalith, megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, to ...

, and Nova summons Fin to aid her. They discover a shrine dedicated to an ancient shark god and collect an artifact, which has the unforeseen consequence of unleashing a new type of sharknado with a dimensional vortex inside it. The sharknado heads toward London, and Fin rallies the

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

guards to defeat it. They manage to survive the sharknado, but Gil is pulled into the storm and vanishes. Fin, April and Nova realize that Gil is still alive and track him using a signal emitted by a special helmet given to him earlier by British scientists. They board an airship created and piloted by inventor Dr. Angel and pursue Gil to Switzerland, but the ship is caught in a sharknado and crashes, killing Dr. Angel while Fin's group steal skis and battle the sharknado as they head down the slopes. Eventually, they are engulfed by the sharknado and teleported to

, Australia through the vortex, where April's cybernetic body is badly damaged in a shark attack. Nova brings April to her allies Orion and Electra for repairs, then reveals to Fin that she leads the "Sharknado Sisterhood," a global organization dedicated to destroying the sharknados. Orion and Electra are members of the Sisterhood, as is Fin's cousin Gemini, who is supervising the ship carrying the nuclear waste left behind from the nukenado at Niagara Falls. Fin is angered that Nova kept Gemini's role in the group a secret and sets out with the upgraded April to pursue Gil. Meanwhile, a sharknado strikes Gemini's ship and absorbs the nuclear waste, causing it to mutate into a shark-shaped mass of sharks that begins heading toward Japan. Fin and April end up in

, where they meet another member of the Sisterhood at an old church and learn the ancient myths behind the sharknados and the vortex, being told that "the Earth has many portals." An art thief steals the artifact during the meeting, leading to a car chase that ends up in the

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; , ultimately from Ancient Greek word "kolossos" meaning a large statue or giant) is an Ellipse, elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphi ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Italy when a sharknado teleports both vehicles. Fin and April recover the artifact and are summoned by the Pope, who encourages Fin to continue his mission to save Gil and the world and supplies him with a special chainsaw for the fight to come. Using the artifact, Fin and April summon a sharknado and nearly manage to recover Gil, but he slips out of their grasp and all three are pulled into the vortex. Fin and April emerge in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, where the nuclear mass of sharks - now dubbed " Sharkzilla" by the global media - is rampaging. They discover that Gil is trapped inside Sharkzilla's mass, and Nova arrives with the remaining members of the Sisterhood to defeat the creature. Nova skydives into Sharkzilla and begins fighting her way to Gil, but when military fighter jets bomb the mass, it explodes. Gil vanishes, seemingly killed in the blast, while Nova is mortally wounded and dies after Fin forgives her and accepts her as part of their family. Shortly thereafter, Fin receives a call from his son Matt, who frantically tells him that all the members of their family are dead before he is killed himself by a sharknado striking the family farm in

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. Distraught, but with nothing else left to lose, Fin and April decide to try returning the artifact to Stonehenge in the hopes that doing so will stop the escalating sharknado outbreak. However, the sharknado they summon instead teleports them to the

Pyramids of Giza The Giza pyramid complex (also called the Giza necropolis) in Egypt is home to the Great Pyramid, the pyramid of Khafre, and the pyramid of Menkaure, along with their associated pyramid complexes and the Great Sphinx. All were built during th ...

in Egypt, where they find hieroglyphs indicating that the Egyptians also knew of the shark god and the vortex, which is inside the Earth's core. Fin and April discover an ancient mechanism that causes the pyramids to open up and absorb the energy of the vortex upon its activation, seemingly ending the outbreak. Just as everything seems to be back to normal, however, the mechanism reverses and the vortex energy erupts from the Earth, triggering a global sharknado that consumes the entire world, killing Gemini who is still in Tokyo. Unable to shut down the device, Fin and April rush outside to discover a sharknado and tsunami heading towards them. While Fin protects their position using the staff he found in the pyramid, April uses her ability to absorb energy to absorb the entire planetary vortex, sacrificing herself to end the global sharknado. Her actions stop the storm but cause her body to explode, and Fin is left as seemingly the last human on Earth, with all life having seemingly been wiped out. Fin collects April's head in a bag attached to the staff and begins wandering the ruined planet in a desperate but fruitless search for other survivors. Sometime later, a truck emerges from a bright light and approaches him, driven by a greatly aged Gil, who still possesses his flight insignia and the helmet that protected him from the sharks. When Sharkzilla exploded, it caused a reaction that sent him back in time, and Gil spent all the time since then developing a way to use the sharknado as a

time machine A time machine is a fictional or hypothetical device that allows time travel. Concept A time machine is a device that makes time travel possible. The ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' distinguishes between two different types of time ma ...

. Reunited, Fin and Gil set off into the past in order to defeat the sharknados once and for all and save their family and friends.

Cast

Principal cast

as Fin Shepard *

as April Wexler *

as Nova Clarke * Billy Barratt as Gil Shepard Jr. *

as Mature Gil Shepard

Supporting cast

Tiffany Pollard Tiffany Pollard (born January 6, 1982) is an American television personality. She starred on the first two seasons of the reality show '' Flavor of Love'' (2006), where she was given the nickname "New York" by rapper Flavor Flav. Pollard later ...

as Vega *

Porsha Williams Porsha Dyanne Williams (born June 22, 1981) is an American television personality, singer, actress and activist. She starred on the reality series ''The Real Housewives of Atlanta'' from 2012 until 2021, rejoining the cast in 2024. She also sta ...

as Andromeda *

Tony Hawk Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first docume ...

as "The Hawk" *

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British and Australian singer and actress. With over 100 million records sold, Newton-John was one of the List of best-selling music artists#100 million to 119 million record ...

as Orion *

Sasha Cohen Alexandra Pauline "Sasha" Cohen (born October 26, 1984) is a retired American figure skater. She is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World Championship medalist, the 2003 Grand Prix Final Champion, and the 2006 U.S. Champion. S ...

as Olympic Ice Skater *

Al Roker Albert Lincoln Roker Jr. (born August 20, 1954) is an American weather presenter, journalist, television personality, and author. He is the weather anchor on NBC's ''Today'', and occasionally co-hosts '' 3rd Hour Today''. He has a lapsed Ameri ...

as Himself *

Hoda Kotb Hoda Kotb ( ; born August 9, 1964) is an American broadcast journalist, television personality, and author. She was the main co-anchor of the NBC News breakfast television, morning show ''Today (American TV program), Today'' from 2018 to 2025, ...

as Herself *

Geraldo Rivera Geraldo Rivera (born Gerald Rivera; July 4, 1943) is an American journalist, attorney, author, and political commentator who worked at the Fox News Channel from 2001 to 2023. He hosted the tabloid talk show '' Geraldo'' from 1987 to 1998. He g ...

as Dr. Angel *

Margaret Cho Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, actress and musician. In her Stand-up comedy, stand-up routines she critiques social and political problems, especially about race and sexuality. She starred in the Ame ...

as Simone *

Clay Aiken Clayton Holmes Aiken (''né'' Grissom; born November 30, 1978) is an American singer, television personality, actor and political activist. Aiken finished second place on the second season of ''American Idol'' in 2003, and his debut album, '' Me ...

as Llewelyn *

Downtown Julie Brown Julie Dorne Brown, better known as Downtown Julie Brown, is a British-born actress, dancer, television personality, SiriusXM DJ and former MTV VJ. Brown is best known as the host of the television music show '' Club MTV'', which ran from 1987 ...

as Consigliere *

Fabio Fabio is a given name descended from Latin ''Fabius'' and very popular in Italy and Latin America (due to Italian migration). The name is written without an accent in Italian and Spanish, but is usually accented in Portuguese as ''Fábio'' (with t ...

as The Pope *

Gilbert Gottfried Gilbert Jeremy Gottfried (February 28, 1955 – April 12, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian and actor, best-known for his exaggerated shrill voice, strong New York dialect, his squint, and his edgy, often-controversial, sense of humor. Hi ...

as Ron McDonald *

Abby Lee Miller Abigale Lee Miller (born September 21, 1965) is an American dance instructor, choreographer, studio owner, television personality, and author. She is the founder of the Abby Lee Dance Company, and owns a studio in L.A. She appeared on the realit ...

as Dr. Bramble *

Charo María Rosario Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza, professionally known by her stage name Charo, is a Spanish-born actress, singer, comedian, and flamenco guitarist who rose to international prominence in the 1960s on American television, as well ...

as The Queen *

Claudia Jordan Claudia Angela Jordan (born April 12, 1973) is an American talk show host, actress, model, businesswoman, and reality television and radio personality. She is known for appearing as a model on the American version of '' Deal or No Deal'' and '' ...

as Ursa * Yanet García as Chara *

Chris Kattan Christopher Lee Kattan ( ; born October 19, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. After performing with numerous comedy troupes, including The Groundlings in Los Angeles, he broke through as a regular cast member on the sketch comedy show ''Sat ...

as Prime Minister * Doug Censor Martin as Jock, The Helicopter Pilot *

Samantha Fox Samantha Karen Fox (born 15 April 1966) is an English pop singer and former glamour model from Crouch End in North London. She has appeared on reality television shows and has occasionally worked as a television presenter and actress. Fox beg ...

as Ms. Moore * Jeff Rossen as Himself *

Kate Garraway Kathryn Mary Draper-Garraway (born 4 May 1967) is an English broadcaster and journalist. In the 1990s, Garraway was a journalist for ITV News Central and later a co-presenter of ITV News Meridian. From 2000 to 2010, she co-presented GMTV. Cur ...

as Herself *

Charlotte Hawkins Charlotte Mary Hawkins (born 16 May 1975) is a British television and radio presenter, newsreader and journalist. Hawkins joined ITV's '' Meridian Tonight'' in 2003, hosting its main news programme, leaving in 2006 to become co-presenter of ...

as Herself *

Laura Tobin Laura Elizabeth Tobin FRMS (born 10 October 1981) is an English broadcast meteorologist and Scientist. She worked for the BBC before moving to the ITV Breakfast programme '' Daybreak'' in 2012. ''Daybreak'' was later replaced by '' Good Mornin ...

as Herself *

Louie Spence Louie Spence (born 6 April 1969) is an English dancing, dancer, choreographer and television presenter, best known for the TV show ''Pineapple Dance Studios (TV series), Pineapple Dance Studios''. He was a professional dancer in his youth, perfo ...

as Calvin, The Clerk *

Katie Price Katrina Amy Alexandra Alexis Price (''née'' Infield; born 22 May 1978) is an English media personality and model. She gained recognition in the late 1990s for her glamour modelling work, including on Page 3 of the tabloid newspaper ''The Su ...

as Connery *

Bret Michaels Bret Michael Sychak (born March 15, 1963), known professionally as Bret Michaels, is an American singer and musician. He is the frontman of rock band Poison, which has sold over 65 million albums worldwide and 30 million records in the United St ...

as Himself *

Kathie Lee Gifford Kathryn Lee Gifford (Given name, née Epstein; born August 16, 1953) is an American television presenter, singer, songwriter, actress, and author. From 1985 to 2000, she and Regis Philbin hosted the talk show ''Live with Kelly and Mark, Live! wi ...

as Herself *

Tom Daley Thomas Robert Daley (born 21 May 1994) is an English retired diver, YouTuber and television personality. He is an Olympic champion in the men's synchronised 10-metre platform event at the 2020 Olympics and double world champion in the FI ...

as Himself * Shel Rasten as Prince *

David Naughton David Walsh Naughton (born February 13, 1951) is an American actor and singer. He is known for his starring roles in the horror film ''An American Werewolf in London'' (1981) and the Disney comedy '' Midnight Madness'' (1980), as well as for a lo ...

Ambassador Kessler * Lucy Pinder as Swedish Ambassador * Jena Sims as NATO Delegate Lee * Ross Mullan as Dr. Wobbegon * Nichelle Nichols as Secretary General Starr * Casey Batchelor as Lady Anne * Luisa Zissman as The Duchess * India Thain as Dottie, The Maid * Ivanushki International, Kiril Andreev as Himself * Noush Skaugen as Helga, The Maid * Liliana Nova as Svetlanda * Gus Kenworthy as Skier * Russell Hodgkinson as Steven *

as Dundee * Karl Stefanovic as Himself * Lisa Wilkinson as Herself * Chloe Lattanzi as Electra * Spencer Matthews as Sailor Dan * Caprice Bourret as Polaris * John Morrison (wrestler), John Morrison as Rodolfo * LaChelle Hunt as "Pisces" * Greg Louganis as Zico * Victor Lamoglia as Bernard * Nathalie Odzierejko as Nicola * Marc Jarousseau as Claude * Jai Rodriguez as Peter * Audrey Latt, Brady Latt and Moise Latt as Japanese Hotel Kids * Shin Kinoshita as Shin * Cat Greenleaf as Herself * Dan Fogler as Himself * Benjy Bronk as Howard Beale * Yoshie Morino as Jasmine * Bai Ling as Mira * Jedward, Edward Grimes as Cameron * Jedward, John Grimes as Mick * Oliver Kalkofe and Peter Rütten as Tele 5 Schlefaz News Studio Anchors * Olli Schulz as Demonstration Guy * Jan Delay and Stefan Sandrock as Men In Front of Townhall Hamburg * Linda Zervakis as News Anchor Woman * Dietmar Wischmeyer as Country Side Reporter * Sarah Knappik as Street Reporter * Bela B. as Police Guy * Joko Winterscheidt and Klaas Heufer-Umlauf as Weapons Testers * Oliver Welke as Sharknado News Anchor * Tim Mälzer as Guy With The Biggest Fish In The Harbor of Hamburg * Rob Vegas as Guy Next to The Guy With The Biggest Fish * Markus Lanz as Talk Show Anchor * Ingrid van Bergen and Dieter Nuhr as Talk Show Guests * Thomas Koschwitz as Berlin Skyline City Reporter #1 * Julia Gámez Martin as Berlin Skyline City Reporter #2 * Simone Panteleit as Weather Reporter * Sascha Vollmer as Guy With The Hammer * Ana Florit, Andi Royer, Caroline Dillon, Courtney Quod, Diana Latt, Jennifer Quod, Jess Park, Kendall Anlian, Lisa Pirro, Madyson Hayes, Maeve Harris, Maria Cardoza, Michael Hardman, Sandy Latt, Sara Ann Fox, Sheila Goldfinger, Susee Villasenor, Tammy Klein and Veronica Palominos as Sharknado Sisters ;Guest stars * Cody Linley as Matt Shepard * Masiela Lusha as Gemini

Production

A fifth ''Sharknado'' film was confirmed in October 2016, and was released on August 6, 2017. The title was going to be ''Sharknado 5... Earth 0'', but on June 1, 2017, the title was unveiled to be ''Sharknado 5: Global Swarming'' with the tagline "Make America Bait Again." The tagline and title were selected via fan submission and voting. The tagline "Make America Bait Again" was submitted by James Guill, a freelance poker writer. His tagline was a parody to the popular slogan "Make America Great Again" by Donald Trump.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 30% based on reviews from 10 critics. Les Chappell of ''The A.V. Club'' gave the film a grade A, and wrote: "Somehow, ''Sharknado 5: Global Swarming'' pulls the franchise back from the brink and returns it to what it's supposed to be: fun to watch."

References

External links

* * * {{Anthony C. Ferrante 2017 television films 2017 films 2010s English-language films 2017 horror films 2017 independent films 2010s science fiction comedy films American disaster films American comedy horror films American science fiction horror films American science fiction comedy films Television sequel films Syfy original films The Asylum films Sharknado films Films directed by Anthony C. Ferrante 2017 comedy horror films Films set in the future 2010s American films Films set in the Colosseum Films set in Egypt Films set in Kansas Films set in London Films set in Rio de Janeiro (city) Films set in Rome Films set in Sydney Films set in Tokyo Stonehenge Giza pyramid complex Films about teleportation English-language comedy horror films English-language science fiction comedy films English-language independent films